Fields of the Invention
The disclosure as detailed herein is in the technical field of professional development. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to the technical field of methods for education. Even more specifically, the present disclosure relates to the technical field of voice analysis.
Description of Related Art
In a dialogue, there is often a lead speaker communicating with other participants. The lead speaker can be a teacher communicating with students in a class, a coach of a sports team communicating with team members, an organizer of an event communicating with event attendees, an invited speaker discussing a topic with people in a gathering, and so on. To improve speaking ability, people often read books that provide speech improvement tips. Some people read or hear general criticisms of other speakers to improve their own speech. However, because everyone has a different way of speaking, it is important for a person to analyze his or her own speech. In this endeavor, some people practice presentations in front of their peers, who then provide criticisms to help improve speech of a speaker. However, such criticisms are not always constructive, and sometimes can be harmful, as they are based on individual opinions rather than facts related to speech of the speaker, such as specific speech times of the lead speaker. Moreover, this practice requires one or more people to listen to the speaker only for purposes of critiquing the speaker, and such a convenience is not available most of the time. Additionally, this practice does not critique the speaker's participation in a group dialogue, and instead only focuses on a speaker's practice solo speech, thereby not enabling a constructive feedback regarding the speaker's participation in a dialogue with other participants.
It is thought that this invention may improve the well-being of multiple types of people, including but not limited to: novice teachers, experienced teachers, teacher coaches, pre-service teachers, sales managers, business executives and doctors. Teachers spend most of their time in dialogue with their students in order to educate them; however, it is often difficult for educators, particularly novice and pre-service teachers, to determine if they are doing an effective job of communicating. Further, it is often difficult for teachers to determine the best way to verbally engage students. Further, teachers may not be sure how to connect their knowledge to a particular curriculum. Further, they may not be sure which type of learning they may be implementing in the classroom. And finally, teachers have a need to keep themselves updated on professional development, such as effective communication skills.
Providing feedback for teachers on communication and teaching skills is essential for their ability to effectively educate their students; however, there lacks an appropriate way to measure teachers' effectiveness in communication. Further, it is arduous to gather data for evaluating teacher performance. Further, if a teacher is not able to access feedback or data on his/her performance, then it is not possible for the teacher to self-evaluate and make the necessary changes to improve his/her skills.
Professionals working in the field of sales also rely heavily on dialogue for job success. For example, a sales person needs to be able to engage in the correct type of dialogue with customers in order gain and maintain their interest for a sales pitch. Further, the salesperson has to be able to effectively communicate the idea or product that is for sale. Finally, salespeople also have a need for evaluation of their speaking abilities.
It is important, often imperative, that medical professionals, particularly doctors, be able to effectively communicate with patients. An ineffective doctor-patient interview can result in an incorrect diagnosis or otherwise negatively affect the health of a patient. Further, many doctors are known to have difficult bedside manners which can impede communication, as well as cause undue anxiety or stress for a patient. And finally, a patient may not follow medical instructions due to a lack of comprehension of what the doctor said.